Dave Mustaine was an early member of the band Metallica, and helped pen tracks that wound up on their first two albums. In 1983, Mustaine was let go from the group by Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield due to personal conflicts and substance abuse. He would be replaced by Kirk Hammett, guitarist for the Bay Area thrash band Exodus, who remains with the band to this day. Dave felt slighted and vowed to make his own band, which would be even faster and heavier than Metallica. Mustaine picked the name "Megadeth" from a pamphlet by California senator Alan Cranston that read: "The arsenal of megadeath can't be rid no matter what the peace treaties come to."
In 1985, Megadeth released their debut album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!, on the independent record label Combat Records, to moderate success. It caught the attention of bigger labels, which led to Megadeth signing with Capitol Records. Their first major-label album, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, was released in 1986 and was a major hit with the underground metal scene. Band members' substance abuse issues and personal disputes had brought Megadeth negative publicity during the late 1980s. Nonetheless, the band went on to release a number of platinum-selling albums, including So Far, So Good... So What! (1988), Rust in Peace (1990), and Countdown to Extinction (1992). These albums, along with worldwide tours, brought them public recognition.
Megadeth has had numerous guitarists, drummers and bassists throughout its 39-year career, with Mustaine being the only remaining original member of the group. The band temporarily disbanded in 2002 when Mustaine suffered an arm injury and re-established in 2004 without longtime bassist David Ellefson, who had taken legal action against him. Ellefson settled out of court and rejoined the band in 2010, but was fired in 2021 amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Megadeth's current lineup includes Mustaine, bassist James LoMenzo, guitarist Kiko Loureiro and drummer Dirk Verbeuren.
Megadeth earned platinum certifications in the United States for six of its sixteen studio albums, and has received twelve Grammy nominations. Megadeth won its first Grammy Award in 2017 for the song "Dystopia" in the Best Metal Performance category. The band's mascot, Vic Rattlehead, regularly appears on album artwork and live shows. Megadeth has hosted its own music festival, Gigantour, several times since July 2005, and held its first MegaCruise in October 2019.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megadeth
Studio albums
Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985)
Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? (1986)
So Far, So Good... So What! (1988)
Rust in Peace (1990)
Countdown to Extinction (1992)
Youthanasia (1994)
Cryptic Writings (1997)
Risk (1999)
The World Needs a Hero (2001)
The System Has Failed (2004)
United Abominations (2007)
Endgame (2009)
Thirteen (2011)
Super Collider (2013)
Dystopia (2016)
The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead! (2022)
Devils Island
Megadeth Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is blocked out by the key,
That locks the door to this hell,
The place they wanted me.
Time's racing like the wind,
Execution's near.
Oh Lord, I wait for death,
And yes, I have no fear.
And step along the way.
Closed my eyes, walking,
As danger paved the way.
The devil and the darkness
Let her evil wander free.
And here on Devil's Island,
The final stop for me.
Devil's Island! Devil's Island!
Oh there's no escape,
The sea is full of sharks.
The tides take you way
And smash you on the rocks.
The sun is shining,
But feel not today,
Its warmth, it's dying,
And fading away.
Devil's Island! Devil's Island!
Oh hear the call,
From the grave beyond
Oh so pernicious,
Her soul could, it creates song.
As there is no man that is
Here upon the earth,
Able to terminate our
Noisome will since birth.
The priest that reads the sermons,
Is walking next to me,
To the stake, my last request,
To have her burn with me.
But so it did, the heavens opened,
Rain began to fall.
The final judgment came.
And was spread before you all.
Final Judgment!
Old, weak, and feeble,
But the lesson taught to me,
To stay away from evil,
She doesn't care for me.
She haunts me in my sleep,
Though I tore that page away.
And here on Devil's Island,
I'll always have to stay.
Devil's Island! Devil's Island!
Here I am
Devil's Island! Devil's Island!
The lyrics of Megadeth's song "Devil's Island" tell the story of a man who has been imprisoned in a cell on Devil's Island, a notorious French penal colony off the coast of South America. The light that fills his cell is blocked out by the key that locks the door, and he knows that his execution is near. He recalls the night that led to his imprisonment and walks toward his inevitable fate with no fear. He blames the devil and the darkness for allowing evil to roam free, leading him to this final stop on Devil's Island.
The man describes his hopelessness and despair as the sea around the island is full of sharks, and no escape is possible. He feels the warmth of the sun fading away despite its shining presence. He hears a call from beyond the grave, as the soul of the woman who he allowed to lead him down this path creates a pernicious song in his dreams. He believes that no one on Earth has the ability to terminate their noisome will since birth, and even the priest walking with him to the stake receives his final request to have her burn with him.
Line by Line Meaning
The light that fill my lonely cell,
The only source of light in my cell is blocked by the key that locks me in this place.
Is blocked out by the key,
The key that locks the door blocks the only light that reaches me.
That locks the door to this hell,
The door that is locked with the key keeps me in this nightmare-filled place.
The place they wanted me.
This is the place where those who wanted me punished sent me.
Time's racing like the wind,
Time is passing by very quickly, like the wind that rushes by.
Execution's near.
My execution is soon approaching.
Oh Lord, I wait for death,
I am waiting for death and am calling out to the Lord for help.
And yes, I have no fear.
Despite my impending death, I have no fear of what is to come.
I recall that night, my every breath,
I remember every detail of that night, including every breath I took.
And step along the way.
I remember every step I took leading up to my imprisonment.
Closed my eyes, walking,
I walked with my eyes closed, as if I was expecting danger.
As danger paved the way.
I knew that danger was coming and that it was leading me straight to prison.
The devil and the darkness
The devil and darkness have taken control of my life.
Let her evil wander free.
Her evil is allowed to roam free and cause destruction wherever it goes.
And here on Devil's Island,
This is Devil's Island, the place where I will spend the rest of my life.
The final stop for me.
This is the end of the line for me, the final destination of my journey.
Devil's Island! Devil's Island!
This is Devil's Island, the place where I will be trapped forever.
Oh there's no escape,
There is no way to escape from Devil's Island.
The sea is full of sharks.
The surrounding sea is filled with dangerous sharks who will attack anyone who tries to escape.
The tides take you way
The tides will carry you away if you try to escape.
And smash you on the rocks.
You will be smashed onto the rocks if you try to escape and are taken away by the tides.
The sun is shining,
It might seem like a nice day with the sun shining.
But feel not today,
I am not feeling the warmth of the sun today.
Its warmth, it's dying,
The warmth of the sun is fading away, just like my hope of ever escaping Devil's Island.
And fading away.
The warmth and hope are both fading away.
Oh hear the call,
I can hear the call of death approaching.
From the grave beyond
The call is coming from beyond the grave, inviting me to join the dead.
Oh so pernicious,
The call is dangerous and troubling.
Her soul could, it creates song.
Her soul is powerful and can create music that will haunt me.
As there is no man that is
There is no man on this earth who is strong enough to overcome what I am facing.
Here upon the earth,
No one on this earth will be able to save me from my fate.
Able to terminate our
No one is able to put an end to the evil that threatens us.
Noisome will since birth.
The evil has been with us since birth and will be with us until we die.
The priest that reads the sermons,
The priest is reading sermons to us on our way to the stake for execution.
Is walking next to me,
The priest is walking right beside me as we make our way.
To the stake, my last request,
My last request before being burned at the stake is for her to be burned with me.
But so it did, the heavens opened,
As soon as we were about to be burned, the heavens opened and rain began to fall.
Rain began to fall.
Rain began to fall from the heavens, signifying that something was about to change.
The final judgment came.
The final judgment has come for me and my fate has been decided.
And was spread before you all.
My fate has been spread before everyone here, and everyone knows what is about to happen to me.
Final Judgment!
This is the final judgment, the moment of truth that I was dreading.
Old, weak, and feeble,
I am now old, weak, and feeble after spending so much time in prison.
But the lesson taught to me,
I have learned an important lesson during my time in prison.
To stay away from evil,
I have learned that it is important to stay away from evil and not get involved with those who practice it.
She doesn't care for me.
The one who got me into this mess doesn't care about me or what happens to me.
She haunts me in my sleep,
She still haunts me even in my sleep.
Though I tore that page away.
I tried to forget about her by tearing out the page with her name on it, but it didn't work.
And here on Devil's Island,
Even though I tried to forget about her, I am still stuck here on Devil's Island.
I'll always have to stay.
I will be stuck on this island for the rest of my life, haunted by the memories of the one who got me into this mess.
Here I am
This is my current situation, trapped on Devil's Island for the rest of my life.
Devil's Island! Devil's Island!
This is Devil's Island, the place where I have been sent to suffer for the rest of my life.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DAVE MUSTAINE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind